LEGO bird photography in the wild

February 25, 2024 | 4

LEGO released the realistic 10331 Kingfisher Bird just a couple of weeks ago but it’s already gotten wildlife enthusiasts whistling. Archiminibricks, a mod from BrickCentral, even got to take it out for a photo shoot in nature with spectacular results!

I had to join in on the fun myself and waded into pseudo-wildlife photography with these two red cardinals modded from the 31143 Birdhouse. 

This is a brand new monthly series curated by Four Bricks Tall where creative LEGO photography is featured on the blog to inspire, entertain and also highlight incredible talent from around the LEGO Community.

Check out January’s LEGO Space photography post! if you missed that one!

I’m no stranger to taking my LEGO sets out into the wild but it was such a different experience shooting these brick-built birds.

For one thing, I got to stand up which felt a lot more natural and comfortable. I’m usually hunched over on the ground for minifig, vehicle, or building photos to get the environment they need and at their eye-level.

Plus I got to dust off and use my monopod since I needed height and stability for bird photography. 

Other LEGO photographers swooped in for the opportunity to share their photos of LEGO birds, including some fantastic MOCs by skabram.builds.

Birds from fantasy genres also flew in for their photo ops with these majestic captures of Hedwig from 75979 Hedwig and the 76391 Hogwarts Icons Collectors’ Edition as well as a Thunderbird from 75952 Newt’s Case of Magical Creatures.

The tropical birds preened for the camera as well: 31136 Exotic Parrot, a Cockatoo (which is an alternate build of 31133 White Rabbit), and 30581 Tropical Parrot.

Even this tiny hummingbird from Classic Bricks 11020 fluttered in for a shot.

If you want to try your hand at LEGO bird photography, the photogenic 10331 Kingfisher Bird is available now for US$49.99 / AU$89.99 / £44.99 / €49.99 / CAD$69.99. See Jay’s 10331 Kingfisher Bird review here for his pretty spectacular in-the-wild shots.

Other sets with brick-built birds available now:

• 31143 Birdhouse
• 31136 Exotic Parrot
• 31144 Exotic Pink Parrot
• 31133 White Rabbit
• 31157 Exotic Peacock
• 40639 Bird’s Nest
• 76391 Hogwarts Icons Collectors’ Edition

And coming soon, a fantastic-looking owl as an alternate build in 31154 Forest Animals: Red Fox.

For something a bit different, you could also try taking photos of 21342 The Insect Collection.

Here’s a time-saving (and back-saving) tip: bring a monopod.

To take the photo of the pair of red cardinals in a tree, I used a monopod rather than a tripod so I could maneuver much more easily among the branches. You could go handheld too but I’m not great at nailing focus with a shallow depth of field.

Also, sometimes a light breeze would move the branches– or knock the birds off– so speed was the name of the game in this situation. A monopod kept me in a ready-to-shoot position without having to steady myself on uneven terrain or reframe the shot.

A monopod isn’t necessary, but it’s a lot more comfortable. If you want to just take a camera and some LEGO birds outdoors for a photoshoot, try changing your camera settings to burst mode and close down your aperture for a higher hit rate.

Hope you enjoyed this gorgeous feature on LEGO Birds! Don’t forget to check out January’s LEGO Space photography post for more Space-inspired goodness.

Keep on a lookout for a March photography contest with some incredible prizes to be won! Hint: It’ll be medieval-themed, so Castle fans, get excited!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Four Bricks Tall is a LEGO ambassador for BrickCentral on Instagram and the community manager of Stud Shooters on Flickr. She’s been a judge for the Flickr x LEGO photography contest, a pre-show presenter in LEGO CON, and has been featured on LEGO, Sony Alpha Universe, and DIYPhotography. She helped organize LEGO In Focus, a coffee table book about LEGO photography published by Chronicle Books for The LEGO Group.

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